09 February 2012

Argentina Trying to Screw with Britain in the Falklands Again (Because It
Worked-Out SO Well Last Time)

Royal Marine commandos raise the flag at
Government House, Port Stanley - June 4, 1982

Back in April '82, a failing right-wing junta in Buenos Aires 
-desperate for some populist appeal/diversion to quell domestic (economic) unrest- attempted to buoy public support through an ill-advised nationalistic military conquest.

And it worked, for a while: not only was the planned invasion and occupation of the Falklands launched prematurely (for political reasons) with lightly-trained troops, the military government
-under the command of General Leopoldo Galtieri- severely underestimated the steely resolve of PM Margret Thatcher in attacking what they refer to as the 'Malvinas', a small group of British-held islands 300 miles off the Argentine coast (then subsequently the inhospitable South Georgia Islands +840 miles further out to sea). 


Indeed the Iron Lady wasted no time in sending a powerful 
Royal Navy flotilla steaming towards Port Stanley just days after the invasion. Following a somewhat costly (for both sides) 
ten-week war fought on land, at sea, and in the air, British training and equipment proved far superior: Argentina had their butts handed to them (only the Argentine Air Force offered any real challenge). This brought-about the collapse of the incompetent military regime as well: Britain liberated not just Falkland Islanders, but in-effect the entire Argentine nation.

Today -as we approach the Falkland War's 30-year-anniversary- the far-Left Peronist-nationalist administration of Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner is not long on gratitude to say the least, instead threatening to re-ignite the issue at the UN, perhaps even blockade the island economically, or ...? (The suspicion that major oil reserves lie near the islands has alot to do with this, some experts say the undersea deposits could rival most any in the world).
Predictably Castro, Chavez (El Bombasto), and other belligerent Bolivarian boneheads are egging her on, speaking enthusiastically in support of resurrecting Argentine claims on islands that have been inhabited by British citizens for over 175 years now.

Argentine light-cruiser ARA General Belgrano on its way to the bottom

Regardless of Kirchner's purporting this week that the territorial dispute is 'a South American cause, a global cause', the only relevant fact is that the people of the Falklands -less than 1% of whom are even Argentine- choose to be British, their right to self-determination a principle enshrined in the UN charter... while poll after poll shows they want nothing to do with Argentina in any way, shape, or form.

A pending high-profile, six-month tour of duty on the Falklands by heir-to-the-throne Prince William (helicopter pilot) is also rubbing the gauchos the wrong way, and there are rumors of a British nuclear attack submarine -the kind that sunk the Gen Belgrano last time- being deployed to the South Atlantic... as you may have guessed, they don't much care for that, either.

But the loudest and clearest message is being sent by the most advanced warship in the Royal Navy -'ultra-modern' destroyer HMS Dauntless- which is about to be dispatched to the vicinity of the Falklands, providing Kirchner ample incentive to mind her manners. 

So far -alas- she's not: much like Barack Obama's Teamster/SIEU, ACORN, and 'Occupy' street-muscle, radical Kirchner goons are already threatening to violently attack British business interests in Argentina until the Duke of Cambridge -who Kirchner said the Argentine people would 'prefer to see in civilian clothes'- is withdrawn from the Falklands. 

President Fernandez-Kirchner still claims to be committed to finding 'peaceful solutions'... probably not the worst idea she's ever had, considering Dauntless will arriving with a powerful battery of high-tech missiles that could 'take out all of South America's fighter aircraft... let alone Argentina's' according to one Royal Navy source. Indeed, the 70-mile range of the state-of-the-art Sea Viper 'smart' missiles on-board enable the British to down every single Argentine fighter that dare take to flight... the minute it leaves the ground.

-click to enlarge-

This all has Fernandez-Kirchner in quite a huff, or at least pretending to be: yesterday she denounced the dispatch of
Royal Navy warships to the region around the Falkland Islands as an 'unnecessary'militarization of the South Atlantic", but what is truly 'unnecessary' is the way in which she's chosen to demagogue the dispute for domestic political consumption. Given the Argentines' unsettling record in dealing with this ongoing issue, who's to blame Whitehall for taking preventative measures... could save a lot of lives on both sides.

With the United Kingdom's seat on the UN Security Council preventing much happening down there either, it's hard to see just what Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner is hoping to accomplish... now that she's got the kids whipped into a frenzy, there'll be nothing but disappointment to offer them for the foreseeable future.

 Just don't try anything funny, crazy lady-


Argentina war 1982 Thatcher Falklands Royal Navy xxx Kirchner  HMS Dauntless